Here’s the problem with boring offices: they can make people think creative, fun, well-decorated offices are just a luxury. After all, if work can get done in a bare-bones space, then you don’t really need a branded environment, right?
The problem is, this line of thinking doesn’t see the downsides that boring offices have. It ignores all the intangible — but very real — benefits of a visually-enjoyable office. Sure, work still happens in cubicle farms, but that doesn’t mean they’re as good a workplace as they could be.
Don’t believe us? Let’s look at a few concrete ways branded office environments can be helpful.
Branded Environments Help Attract Talent
As one of our portfolio pages puts it, “No exceptional employee wants to work in an ugly office building with no ornamentation. For that matter, customers don’t want to visit those places either.” Blunt, perhaps, but it’s true. How much do you enjoy visiting a building with nothing but bare cinderblock walls?
A creative branded environment — with unique wall graphics, brand colors woven throughout the space, elements talking about your core values, maybe even a timeline or map wall that shows off the company’s history — looks like a place people want to be. It’s inspiring and visually enjoyable, a place that isn’t just any run-of-the-mill office. Most employees, especially talented and in-demand ones, want to work someplace distinctive.
Branded Environments Help Build Your Brand
It is right in the name, after all. If you’re trying to get your name, logo, and tagline out there, an office environment that shows them off can be a big boost. Every visitor who shows up will get acquainted with your brand. Every employee can memorize your tagline without even trying, just by seeing it every day. Photos for the press or for social media can be taken in front of a branded element, expanding the environment’s impact even beyond your office itself. And so on. When you have a place whose appearance you can control, why not use it to reflect the brand you’ve taken the trouble to build?
Branded Environments Help Promote Your Company
A branded office environment tells your customers and employees that you care about quality and doing things well. And, like polished graphic design, it gives your company a professional appearance that inspires respect and confidence.
Of course, many companies care about quality and earn their customers’ confidence without nice graphic design or a branded office environment. A professional exterior doesn’t mean the work matches what the exterior implies. But having the professional exterior helps — it lets you make a good first impression and, for better or worse, helps you gain credibility with new customers (or potential customers) who don’t know about the quality of your work yet.
If you’re looking for some ideas, you can find photos of branded environments that we’ve created here. With everything from an ice cream store to an auto manufacturer represented, we bet you’ll see something that inspires you.
